


Running into debt isn’t so bad

by Siff



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Boarding School, Bullying, Gen, Modern times, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-06
Updated: 2014-04-06
Packaged: 2018-01-18 09:32:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1423444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Siff/pseuds/Siff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gwaine never got to pay back the The Euchdag for saving his life.</p><p>Lifetimes later, as things begins to stir, he finally gets his chance - and he grabs it, even though he doesn´t remember why.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Running into debt isn’t so bad

Gwaine didn’t look back as he kicked open the door and marched down the small overgrown path to the front gate. He slammed it behind him and heard it spring open instead of closing. He didn´t care and just kept his pace as he walked away from the house.

Crazy old fuck. What the hell?

“Gwaine!”

He stopped. The sounds of heavy feet meeting the dirt road got louder until the enormous form of Percy stopped by his side. The guy was massive, yet surprisingly fast when he wanted to.

His anger had not dulled, not even a little bit, and he couldn’t help but direct some of it at Percy. “So you didn´t want to stay with your newfound _brothers_?” he asked, mocking dripping of his voice, “I thought you always wanted to be a knight.”

Percy didn´t take the bite. That was the very core of their friendship, the reason Percy hadn´t punched him in the face a long time ago and then left him. He didn´t take on the shit Gwaine let out, he just let it bounce of him.

“Cool it, Gwaine,” Percy said, “the man was crazy.”

“Oh, so you didn´t believe one word he said?” Gwaine asked.

“Of course not.”

Gwaine raised an eyebrow, “Yeah, right. You ate up his words.”

“Gwaine,” Percy said with a warning tone. Gwaine sighed.

“Yeah, sorry,” he said and rubbed his neck with a hand, “It´s just freaked me out.”

In silence they began to walk again, down the road. The only sounds in the small forest were the birds singing above them, and the stones crunching beneath their shoes. It was so weird to think that barely an hour ago they had walked down this path with the others, laughing and joking. And then the old man had come.

Gwaine took a deep breath. Fuck.

No, seriously, fuck. What the hell and all above? This was all so messed up.

“Gwaine, I can hear you grind your teeth. Relax, it’s over, you´ll never see the man again.” said Percy beside him and gently nudged him with an elbow. Normally that would be an invite to a friendly scuffle, but right now it only angered him more.

“How can you not care about this? He knew our names!”

“Everyone knows our name,” said Percy, “We aren´t exactly the most subtle group when we go into town.”

True.

“He knew your full name.”

That made Percy shut up. The big guy´s eyes looked down on the road. Percy hated his full name. No one knew it, not even Lance who always seemed to know everything. No one knew, except Gwaine,

They walked in silence for a few minutes. As they saw the road parted before them in a neat T-shape, Gwaine sighed, feeling a new urge surface within him. “Let´s go to the town first, I need a ciggy.”

Percy´s nose crinkled in disgust. He hated that Gwaine smoked.

“Fine, but I´ll hold onto the pack.”

“What? Why?”

“Or else you go through it before supper. I´ll hold it and you can have one a day so I don´t find you in another nicotine shock.”

“There is no such thing!” Gwaine protested. Percy smiled.

“Well, the school nurse says otherwise.”

Gwaine groaned. That old hag. “Oh, come on, Perce! I can´t live on one smoke a day.”

“You have to or I´ll drag your ass back to school right now without any smokes at all.”

“Fine,” grumbled Gwaine and chose the path to the left. It lead to village while the other to the school.

As they walked they made small talk about homework or annoying teachers, or what gift Percy should get his sister for Christmas. They walked until they reached the bridge. And old, wide thing that stood above the river that separated the forest from the village.

On the bridge stood a small gathering of people. They were yelling, or maybe singing.

“What´s going on?” asked Percy and frowned. Gwaine just shrugged and kept walking. As they got closer he saw, and heard, it was a bunch of girls. Even from this distance he recognizes the bright, blue uniform of his own school, colors matching his own clothes.

A hand gripped his shoulder and stopped him. He looked behind him. “What?” but Percy wasn´t looking at him, instead he was staring towards the bridge; face a weird mixture of confusing and building horror.

“Gwaine,” he said, his voice sounding weird.

“What?” he turned and looked back at the bridge. So a bunch of girls were standing on the bridge, singing, so what? Okay, it was a little weird but come on. They had just met a guy claiming to be a warlock born in the middle-ages. Girls on bridges were the least weird thing he had seen today.

The hand on his shoulder tightened, “Gwaine, look.”

He squinted his eyes.

The girls were gathered by the railing. There were seven or eight of them, all laughing and singing. The tune sounded weird. Chanting even.

He saw something behind them. It looked like papers was scattered on the bridge, some drifted in the wind around them. Weird. His eyes turned back to the girls as they shifted and parted, showing...

Gwaine paled. A small girl stood pressed with her back up against the railing, her hands clenching the wood. She seemed younger than the other girls. Her clothes were black and her hair was dyed blue. It looked like the girls were teasing her.

It could have looked like it was nothing but harmless teasing (like there ever was such a thing), if it wasn’t for the fact that the small girl was standing on the wrong side of the railing.

“What the fuck?” said Gwaine and both he and Percy began to walk forward. It only took a few feet before the girls singing could be heard clearly.

_Jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump…_

“Oh no.” said Percy before cursing and Gwaine agreed silently, his feet picking up speed. This was not good.

They were fast but apparently not fast enough. One of the girls, a blond one, reached out a hand and gave the girl shove in the back. The small girl screamed as she lost her footing, hands clenching around the railing as her feet dangled in the air. Gwaine thought his heart skipped a beat. He was sure she would fall but she somehow managed to gather her feet beneath her.

“HEY!” he yelled at the top of his lungs and every girl turned his way. Some of them looked frightened by being seen, a few even ran off. But the blond girl just snapped something at them and turned back to her victim.

“She´s gonna push her,” breathed Percy and Gwaine could nearly hear the muscles in his friend´s arms strain with anger. Percy had not always been big, and he had seen his share of bullying.

“Hell she is!” said Gwaine, not believing anyone would do that. He was wrong.

It all happened in a few seconds. Gwaine yelled again, he was so close to the bridge as the little girl looked his way, her eye meeting his.

It was like a punch to the gut. Air was knocked out of him and he suddenly smelled sweat and soot and blood. The air felt weird around him, crackling like before lighting struck. The girl´s eyes were so wide. Wide and blue and frightened. Her sky-colored hair flew around her and her face seemed to change. Her skin…

She opened her mouth…

_Even this last refuge is safe... no more…_

And screamed as the blond bitch pushed her. Her hands slipped from the railing and she disappeared from their sight. He yelled, so did Percy. The blond girl ran, a few of her friends stayed, staring into the water, horror evident on their faces. He paid them no mind and instead ran to the railing, catching himself against it as he looked over it.

Beneath him was the river, with its deep body and strong current. His eyes darted across the water, desperately searching for the girl. Percy spotted her first. “There!” he yelled and pointed a little further down the river.

Gwaine eyes finally spotted her. Her small, blue head was bobbing up and down in the water, her arm flapping about. She couldn’t swim.

He jumped.

As he fell he heard Percy scream but all sound was cut off as he hit the water. It was freezing cold. His lungs seemed to shrink and his arms grew stiff. The weight of his clothes absorbing the water in less than a second made him drop deeper into the muddy world. His lungs burned and his arms and legs worked against him but he still managed to force them to move. His head broke through the surface and he gasped in much needed air. The current already had a strong hold on him and he was pulled along. Before him he saw her.

Grinding his teeth together, he kicked out with his legs and forced his arms to take a stroke, and then another, and another. He kept his eyes on the girl, seeing her coming nearer and nearer.

When he finally reached her, his body was screaming from exhausting. His lungs were working like bellows and his arms and legs were heavy and painful.

He managed to grab her, looping an arm around her middle. She was dead weight in his arms.

He yelled wordlessly and pulled her over his shoulder, trying to hold on to her without having to use his hands. He tried to swim, but he was tired, and his body was unresponsive. The extra weight did nothing to help and he was pulled under.

He could see nothing as he fought his way to the surface. He needed air, she needed air. They needed help.

_I know that you are worthy of my help…_

Images flashed before his eyes. Red capes, burning castles, dragons and armies. Laughing and chickens at the end of a string. A golden crown on golden hair, paired with an annoyed look directed his way. It made no sense and yet he found an unspoken meaning in it all. The water was nothing, he had survived worse. Much worse.

He screamed, all air leaving him as he forced his way through the water. The world was dark and soundless before being pieced by light. He was still screaming as he broke through the surface. His hand grabbed empty air, searching for anything to help him. The girl was still across his shoulder.

 _You have nothing to fear_ …

Something grabbed his hand and he was forcefully pulled upwards. He barely managed to hold on to the girl as he dragged out the water and unto solid ground. The girl was then suddenly gone and he was on all fours, gasping and coughing. Someone slapped him hard in the back and he nearly crumbled to the ground.

“Gwaine! Gwaine, are you okay?” Percy´s voice was really loud in his ears but he didn´t have the heart to give a remark to the stupid question. It was just a relief to hear his friend’s voice again.

Other voices joined Percy´s, only they did annoy him and he snapped at them to shut the fuck up. Percy helped him up from the ground and wrapped a blanket around his shoulders. He was fucking cold, and the blanket was soaked within a few minutes.

Percy had his arms around Gwaine as he led him away from the river. He nearly panicked.

“Perce! Perce, where is the girl?” Gwaine asked, twisting in the arms to look around.

“They are taking her to the ambulance and we´re going there too, so don´t worry.” Percy sounded weird, shaky.

It was all a blur. Someone came and shined him into the eyes with a flashlight and asked stupid questions. Of course he knew what his name was. He was stripped of his wet clothes and was draped in more blankets; a warm cup of something was thrust into his hands. Percy hovered over his shoulder the entire time.

It took way too long before he finally saw the girl. He managed a glimpse of her as they loaded her into the ambulance. She looked dead pale with her blue hair plastered to her face, now so much darker added with water. The medic gave his a short update. She had swallowed a lot of water and even though they had gotten all of it out, they feared damaged to her lungs and had to take her to the hospital.

She was awake as they loaded her, her blue eyes finding his among all the people gathered on the river bank. He saw her smile beneath her oxygen-mask, a weak smile that seemed oddly familiar.

_You think kindness is the preserve of humans?_

He stared as the ambulance doors were closed and it drove off. Percy arm was warm against his back.

A copper came and talked to them but Gwaine let Percy do the talking. He felt odd and he knew any words coming out of his mouth right now would result in him being arrested.

When they were finally left alone, Percy dragged him aside, glaring at him with his rarely used anger. Gwaine knew his friend had held back until he was positive Gwaine was fine, and he strongly considered faking a concussion or something just to postpone it. An angry Percy was a scary Percy.

“What the hell were you thinking?” Percy yelled, ruining the point of stepping aside. His voice was no longer shaky. “You could have drowned!”

“The girl,” Gwaine said, letting it be all the explanation he needed.

“I know!” said Percy, looking a little ashamed and Gwaine wondered why. “You could both have died just because you wanted to play hero.”

“I didn´t want to play hero!” snapped Gwaine, shrugging Percy´s arm off him.

“Then why did you jump?”

_…fair knight. You must rest and heal yourself._

“I owe her, okay?” the words left him before could stop them, “I owe her my life.” He had no idea where they came from.

The worried look in Percy´s eyes were too much and he had to look away. Damn it. Damn it all to hell. Then the images flashed before him again. Like a grainy movie from the past century.

_Why does it always take you twice as long to change out of your armor?_

_Because I'm twice the size of you, little man._

_Then why is it that your brain is so small?_

He closed his eyes.

_I failed._

_No. You haven't_

“I owe many people.” He whispered.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Behind him and Percy, hidden behind the trees on the other side of the river, stood an old man. His beard was long and white, and his clothes ragged. He was smiling.

The wheels were in motion. They were beginning to remember, even if it was only by a little. Now all he had to do was awake his king.

**Author's Note:**

> Yay, first Merlin fic^^ Happy.
> 
> Anyway, I love Gwaine, so it always annoyed me we never got to see him help The Euchdag, paying back his debt. So this was born. Thanks for reading!


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